Last year I didn’t make a resolution, but instead had a word for the year, which was ‘learn’. I planned to learn new skills, learn about my surroundings (ie: know the names of plants and animals) and learn about myself. I did really well on the first one – I learned to sew and have made lots of pillowcases, a couple of skirts and an oven glove among other things.

It’s still a work in progress, but I love being able to make things myself and will definitely be doing more of that in 2013. I also bought a DSLR camera and took a couple of photography courses. Again, work in progress, but it’s something I really enjoy learning how to do. And I also started driving lessons, which is something I’ve been putting off for years, and which I am really excited about.

The second and third I did less well with. I have been learning more about nature, and can identify a whole heap of birds and flowers I couldn’t do a year ago, but nowhere near as many as I’d like to be familiar with. And I have done a lot of self-reflection over the last year. I have some vague plans for 2014, but who knows how successful they’ll be or if I’ll actually be brave enough to make the big changes I want to make!

So – looking ahead, I have some slightly more specific resolutions for 2014…

1) Pass my driving test – I’ve booked my test in, and if I don’t pass, I’ll just keep going back and back again until I do.

2) Make healthy living the norm, rather than something I do from time to time when I can be bothered – I have been getting much better throughout 2013, but still have a tendency to binge eat and drink. I am going to be more mindful of my approach to healthy living this year. In fact, I’ve decided to set up a new blog all about healthy eating to help motivate me. I know I won’t be good all of the time, but at least this should help me to discover some new recipes and practice my photography skills!

3) God, this is cliche, but three is to exercise at least four times a week. I was doing great until the weather turned colder and the mornings got so dark. Now, after the excesses and late starts of the Christmas break, I think I’m ready to get stuck in again.

4) Sell our house and move somewhere bigger – already in action as our flat is on the market!

5/6) My fifth and sixth resolutions are private and involve my personal and professional life. If they both come to be, my life is going to be VERY different come this time next year!

7) Fill in my Q&A a Day journal every day – I’ve wanted one of these for a while, and Peter got me one for Christmas! I’ve historically been terrible at filling in daily journals, but this one is great as it gives you a prompt, asking you a question each day.

And that’s it! Well, that’s quite a lot, I suppose. Fingers crossed some of it will actually happen…

Last month I took part in a photo challenge from Michelle Young of My Creative Photography, to take a photo every day inspired by a different word. I didn’t quite manage to take a photo for every single word, but it was a great exercise! Most were just taken with my phone, although one or two I did take with my proper camera when I had it with me. Some of my favourites from the month, below.

Day 1. Weather.

Day 4: Glass

Day 8: Seeing double

Day 9: Forever

Day 15: Shadow

Day 24: Light

You can see lots of other fantastic photos by lots of people who took part on Instagram by searching #mycnovember on the app – there isn’t a search function on the website, so can’t link out, but it’s worth having a look. It’s amazing how differently people interpreted the prompts!